$6 Jib-Crane made from Tripod parts, steel cable, L-brackets and a bunch of nuts and bolts!

READ ME!! (EDIT) - I have finally FIXED the problems with this design by replacing the tripod leg and the cabling system with different materials. Watch this video here • DIY Jib Crane - My Fin... to see what I did!
(EDIT) - Felt I needed to add this because of an unforeseen flaw:
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The twisting of the arm because of the weight of the camera being to one side makes it more difficult to use. At ground level, it tilts clockwise a bit, when it is mid-level (parallel with the pivot point, it is perfectly level, and when it is up high, it tilts slightly counter-clockwise.
I can fix this in post, and have used this on two shoots already. but it is a pain.
_________________
Lightweight, VERY portable, and achieves tilt.
Ok - the title is a bit misleading. I already had almost everything I needed to make this new jib. So yes, it only cost me $6 to make. If you bought the parts now it would cost approximately $25-35 depending upon how much the tripod costs.
I used parts from an old Targus tripod (mainly the legs) to create the arm for the jib, and then used L-brackets and a bunch of nuts and bolts. I specify at the end of the video what parts I used and how many. I also go into DETAILED information about how I made it.
Sorry for the wind noise in the shots outside. It was REALLY windy and my shotgun mic's windscreen was not holding up.
IMPORTANT - if you try this yourself, you need to start with a VERY STURDY TRIPOD as the source for your parts. You also need to make sure you balance everything very well!!
This was NOT an attempt to duplicate the CobraCrane or other design. (Though I did use that as a general direction) It was a challenge I assigned myself to see if I could make it using existing parts.
This design works very well and I am going to be using it on a shoot next week.
Does it look very professional? Not really - but I still wouldn't be ashamed to take it out on a shoot. It performs very well.
All Music performed by myself.

[@boilingaction]

I like the way you solved the connection to the tripod 10:30. Most people tilt their tripods head over to an angle of 90°. But your construction comes with more stability. The best way to prevent our expensive babies from getting broken by an accident. Thumb up

[@babymarshmello1]

I like the construction of the rig. It is light and portable. Good work.

[@bogosavljevicvideo]

I respect guys like you making these great DIY tutorials. Thank you so much!

[@leoncillus]

I have seen others, but this one is very simple and portable, excellent and thank you.

[@LukasDJackson]

brilliant, very good idea and you did a great job with this build, a suggestion for a new built is use the same design but with two arms to support the camera a little better and keep it from bending the tubes.

[@icatchlife]

Sweet! This is a great idea and like you said very "practical". If you're an avid filmmaker you most likely have a tripod sitting around....now I can actually use it! THANKS!

[@FreeMagneticEnergy2]

Use a 12 foot mast from a small sailboard. Its super strong, super light with great reach. Great vid!! Cheers!!

[@musichistorynut]

Thanks! Always having fun with music and videos.

[@allenlarry721]

The best one so far I'm actually bout to give it a shot n try to create it!!!

[@samsilbert4142]

You my friend are an absolute genius.

[@AngryRambro]

Very clever, nice design.

[@kotiprakash69]

i liked the idea behind this creativity as i am from india and in my country affordability is a big issue and crtainly this looks affordable to me and it would be of great help to us thanks good job keep it up

[@MyLegacyFilm]

YES! Exactly. I have revised this design with better materials and will be posting a vid later this week talking about it.

[@musichistorynut]

You can control the tilt - it's done through the pan/tilt head. It needs a lot of practice to get smoothly.

[@musichistorynut]

Yes it will still work with HD or standard Def. The monitor itself is just standard def. But it looks pretty good. It works just fine using my T2i which is HD.

[@shuttlewerks1]

Great design. I will use your design to make mire so I thank you. I would make the comment that after you added the extra L bracket to the tripod and the long bolt joining the two you could use that bolt as the pivot for you lower bearing. This might limit your height somewhat but you would have perfect balance left and right.

[@conewells]

Kidding, of course. You look much better and healthier than him. And I love your jib. I'm gonna try it.

[@edkiggins01]

very good idea,probably the best idea so for that i had seen,just needs a stronger connection to the tri pod...i will be trying this.

[@musichistorynut]

I do use it with my Canon T2i DSLR. Unless your camera is more than 3 pounds the weight is not the issue. The tripod arm is very strong. And the arm is not really round - it's flat on one side, and the other half is angled twice. but you're right - this is NOT the best source for material for a decent Jib Arm. I have encountered some issues that will be resolved soon.

[@astraeus08]

Really well done - you've inspired me to use yours as a basis for making a jib-crane of my own. Do you have any more videos taken using the jib-crane? Have you found it is prone to wobbles? I noticed that the movement on it appears not to be uniform in the short clip you showed at the end there - how problematic have you found that?

[@DanielRize]

Musichistory Meister ! Thanks for some excellent, added, insight into jibs. Nice job. I suspect that I am going to modify the bajeeezus out of this one, but the way you combine tilt and elevation, and make it tripod-mountable --- all so simply --- is quite nice. Rather than cannibalize a tripod, I think am going to use one of those telescoping poles that you get from Home Depot. It will "up" the cost, but they are sturdy, adjustable and I don't have another tripod that I want to tear apart. On a separate topic --- COOL MUSIC, well performed. Nice chops! Thanks again. Dan Little

[@brunocaillard]

Hi Thanks for sharing this vid. You have offset the rod in order to have more amplitude. But this unbalances the crane and you have to ass counter-weight. I just wonder if you would re-center the rod above the tripod, and just put it a bit higher. I think it would give more amplitude. FYI, I work on a jib-crane made with a reclamed telescopic swimmingpool rob. But the main conception is like yours.

[@musichistorynut]

@ezorab Thanks! Will be adding test footage next week from a gig I have near a lake. Weather looks pretty bad this week for footage, but we'll see.

[@meatintaco2002]

all you need now is something to get rid of that wind =) great work

[@marqueztx1]

very smart and creative, the wheels and cable was the best part. ....

[@musichistorynut]

@engereken Thanks! As I say, the IDEA is good, but you really need a better source for the jib arm than the tripod leg - too much twisting is going on.

[@musichistorynut]

@didanhtennis The reason I didn't put the jib on the center of the tripod was because you can get a LOT more height with less length of jib arm when mounting it to the side like that. Cobra Crane's PhotoCrane does it like that. Of course, they use much higher quality components.

[@MarkAStuart]

this is genius! I have the exact same goals, so might try this one. Thanks!

[@cielsmonochromeworld3239]

Nice design, I wonder if it can support mid to heavy weighted DSLRs. And another concern is you don't have full control of the angle of the shot. :( Hope you update this.

[@musichistorynut]

@astraeus08 Yes. Actually, this design is great in concept, but in reality, the twisting of the arm because of the weight of the camera being to one side makes it more difficult to use. At ground level, it tilts clockwise a bit, when it is mid-level (parallel with the pivot point, it is perfectly level, and when it is up high, it tilts slightly counter-clockwise. I can fix this in post, and have used this on two shoots already. but it is a pain.

[@CommandanteMarco]

Very Nice. I watched a lot of DIY Vids and this is I guess the most practicable ive senn! Thanks for sharing your creativity with others. Best wishes from Munich

[@musichistorynut]

@SeeBillyRun Oh wow. I don't have one! :) It's all mostly done with hand-tools. If I need something done that requires much precision (i.e. drill press) I can go to my friend's house. There is a spot in the garage where I can drill and clamp down to saw and stuff, but it is not a workshop. I'd LOVE one.

[@musichistorynut]

@hicksa1 Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@SeeBillyRun]

@musichistorynut Ha ha... way to go. So you completed the majority of your projects with a hand drill and a clamp :) that's awesome!

[@orlandodasilva8117]

musichstorynut, Thank you for post this video, I love the way you put it together. I am sorry but I just saw it, and I just notice that you post it in 2011. I need your help with two itens: where did you buy the wheels and I love the grey handle that you you use, where can I buy a handle like that? Thank you

[@musichistorynut]

Thanks, I am working on finishing up a video of my new and improved version of this! It will be added as a "video response" to this vid, so stay tuned!

[@edkiggins01]

can you move the arm mechanism to the middle of where your L brackets are,maybe use thicker gage steel to make a u shaped bracket? and it might even be mare balanced,i like this idea.yours was the best design.

[@owenkilleen]

very handy, talented Man. tip of the hat to you.

[@davidalanmedia]

That's excellent very creative DIY, Look out Kessler!

[@musichistorynut]

Actually Mardee, I DID re-do this design with less parts. See the description - and see the video response that I did for this video. I was having lots of issues with the older design. But, I think you missed the over-all point of this video. It was to spend as little as possible and use whatever was readily available to make something that did MORE than what I had been using in the past. You want tilt? You have to add a few parts to make it possible, you want pan? even more so.

[@musichistorynut]

YES! I have. I'll be posting a new video with the revised version of this design SOON. It will be a video response to this one.

[@jonathanvillella1591]

I like it, and it looks easy to build

[@musichistorynut]

Yep = but you REALLY don't want to use this PARTICULAR monitor unless you do all your jib stuff INSIDE. (or have alternate battery power). They have portable TVs now for less than $50 that have 7 inch screens and AV inputs. I will be upgrading soon.

[@musichistorynut]

I got that monitor on Amazon. It was a used Playstation 1 external monitor and needs to be replaced with a 7 inch portable TV or something soon. (Anything that uses BATTERIES will be great, as this only uses AC power).

[@magicfather]

Thank you for your ingenious resourseful idea.

[@sikandarsidhu7403]

Hi where did you get the monitor from? Do you have the link??

[@musichistorynut]

Basith, watch the video again. I used two of the three legs to make the arm of the jib. Well, actually, I used all three. One that has all three sections, one that has two larger sections, and one that just has a middle section to fit inside the other two to help strengthen the connection. BUT - please read comments. This design is bad. It doesn't work the way it is supposed to. I have fixed it - watch the video response to this to find out.

[@musichistorynut]

Actually, I DID think about that - but wanted to use the side-mounted version like the Cobra Crane.

[@musichistorynut]

Well, please read the description. This design had some flaws. Not 100% sure, but I think having my tripod be the JIB arm was probably the no. 1 reason it had so many problems. I've since corrected this design. Please see the vid that is a video response to this one.

[@SeeBillyRun]

Bavo! I was curious as to what your workshop set up is like?

[@kontube00]

well, i dont care what pp said about yr review but i like it. not only its cheap. but the weight is perfect. thanks.

[@jlgoins64]

Nice job for the least amount of cash...have you figured out a way to keep the LCD screen from tilting??

[@Slowico]

$ 6,- kostet schon allein die Hantelscheibe und der Rest kostet garantiert auch etwas mehr. Ja und dann die ganze Arbeit von den ganzen Teilen zu kaufen bis hin zur präzisen Arbeit und Zusammenbau, da vergehen etliche Std. und nicht zu vergessen, den Ärger wenn was schief geht. Ich würde mich für die Variante entscheiden an der ich mich nicht verletzen kann und mir keinen Stress macht.

[@sansarx]

i love this music. Can i use ur music in my short films or videos with your name in credit? and if yes, where cen i get it.

[@shikkhaeye]

sansarx maybe consider me for your music endeavors

[@musichistorynut]

I stopped using the cable, added an aluminum rod to allow tilt, and used aluminum tube (square) as my arm now. It's MUCH BETTER.

[@eriotj3jtp4w]

This Is the only Video I am waiting for... It took me 1 weak to find it,,,, any way THANK U... but can u say which all sticks ur using from tripod... I mean TRIPOD have 3 sticks and 1 small in middle right,, So which one.. Please Reply :)

[@musichistorynut]

@weaponeer Thanks! Close, it's Northern Illinois.

[@musichistorynut]

@Koran405 Thanks! I appreciate that!

[@AlexanderStore]

Seems like you didn't think of putting the jib in the middle of the U shaped part that is holding the whole rig up?

[@filmNaudio]

Very cool... Keep up the good work!

[@Ubertubermeister]

Are those Skateboard wheels or from some sort of RC car?

[@musichistorynut]

Well, I have made some improvements. The tripod wasn't the best material to use for the arm. I have finally fixed everything. I'll be posting a vid in a few weeks to show it.

[@bandgeekproductions9239]

The locking bolt that attaches the jib-crane to the tripod is pretty much the same type of bolt that a camera locks onto a tripod with, right? I really don't want to destroy a perfectly good tripod mount of it's actual purpose and then find out I didn't have to.

[@bandgeekproductions9239]

It was a yes or no question.

[@musichistorynut]

Yes, I performed the music myself. Thanks for asking.

[@musichistorynut]

Totally Extended is about 93 inches. (From end to end). But I have improved it. Please see description!!

[@vardor]

intro music is hilarious...awesome

[@rca403]

Gostei amigo, que Deus abençoe sua vida!!! Abraço

[@ieeTube]

Does your camera stay 90 degrees straight when you pan up and down all the way?

[@musichistorynut]

Yes. The cable keeps it straight. The tilting comes from the tilt on the handle of the tripod, so if it is straight, the camera will be as well. If it is tilted, the camera will move in the direction of the tilt.

[@Coolshows101]

I wish I had an old tripod like that one.

[@mohairmedia]

would you kindly send me a link when you post again? LOVE IT!

[@TeleVirtual]

Hey I have a mic boom can I adapted as a jib?txs

[@musichistorynut]

Any hardware store will have the bolts, brackets, wire, and such, I bought the wheels on eBay, and the tripod from Wal-Mart. But - as I have said in the description - the tripod is NOT the best material to use for the arm.

[@DiegoDneo]

how long its yout pipe?

[@STRICTLYFILMS]

were can i buy thise supply?

[@hicksa1]

Its awsome! so neat!! And the music is great!

[@TheYESShow]

Great IDEA!!! You rock!!

[@musichistorynut]

Probably so, but at least I know the difference between "Your" and "You're." Thanks for commenting anyway. We knew what you meant.

[@crazymonkeymatt]

really nice job keep it up

[@csselement]

Nice shreds.

[@4saken404]

Rather than use the tensioner for the cable why not just have the cable a set length and pull the tripod leg until it's tight and clamp it there? Also, don't write off this design. This would be great for a small camera such as GoPro or even a modern cellphone (as many of them can shoot slow-motion HD video).

[@bomcoid1994]

Really cool i love it!!

[@musichistorynut]

Sorry for the confusion - I have several KZbin channels here, and I happened to be logged in under MyLegacyFilm when I responded.

[@SupakitSaksaringkan]

Thank you so much.

[@musichistorynut]

@iAmATechGeek Thanks!!

[@zayemusic]

do u have a new video of it?

[@zayemusic]

is this for sale for $6? i need one like asap

[@vinhphu1977]

Good! I love it!

[@afleitikh3]

Thank you!

[@mardeehill]

Yours was the first one I saw, impressive, until I saw a bunch of the others that did the same, if not more than yours and was less complicated. You might want to update your to more modern, less parts.

[@musichistorynut]

@dothisdothat321 Yep. Canon T2i 550D. Thanks!

[@musichistorynut]

Trust me. you don't want this one - it had flaws. I've improved it now and it's fixed.

[@deeper1000]

Really great man.. Thank you

idea and music very cool tanks

[@adsdentiste]

yes

[@staling2010]

Snazzzy! Thanks for sharing.

[@itsrainingrandomness4082]

I'm probs gonna make it

[@didanhtennis]

Why didn't you just put the jib at the center of the tripod then you don't have to worry about the offsetting weight? Good design though, I like it.

[@HunterMann]

What? Obviously he already had most of the parts. The concept is to not spend much additional money. That tripod new may have been $39-129, or he may have found it at a yard sale for $5. The $6 is what he spent on hardware items to complete it. To ask if he'd sell it for $6 is crazy. His time & designing/engineering makes this thing job crane worth $300-plus. Most people who have been doing photography and/ or video for many years have a few old tripods they aren't using.

[@musichistorynut]

Hey MohairMedia - I have posted the new video as a video response to THIS video - enjoy!

[@chazsteadman5020]

Good video! (Wish I could make my own music for my videos... ugh. lol.)